Playing the boss
- Updated: October 19, 2024
Lipscomb plays way to Calhoun County Match Play semifinals, will play his boss, McGatha. Rollins and Calvert to square off in other semifinal.
Calhoun County Match Play results
The Calhoun County Match Play seeds the top 16 available players based on Calhoun County Tour season points. Listed with seed. Points finish in parenthesis.
FIRST ROUND
No. 1 Gary Wigington def. No. 16 (26) Zach Contris, 7&6
No. 9 (10) Randy Lipscomb def. No. 8 (9) Billy Thompson, 6&4
No. 5 (6) Ty Cole def. No. 12 (15) Chip Howell, 4&3
No. 4 (5) Jeremy McGatha def. No. 13 (16) Hunter Carr, 7&6
No. 3 (4) Chad Calvert def. No. 14 (20) Ott Chandler, 3&2
No. 11 (13) Nick Ledbetter def. No. 6 (7) Andrew Brooks, 4&2
No. 7 (8) Tanner Wells def. No. 10 Chase Hollingsworth, 3&1
No. 2 (3) John Rollins def. No. 15 (23) Jeff Noah, 1 up (two extra holes)
QUARTERFINALS
Lipscomb def. Wigington 1 up (extra hole)
McGatha def. Cole, 4 up
Calvert def. Ledbetter, 1 up (extra hole)
Rollins def. Wells, 1 up
SEMIFINALS
Sunday
Lipscomb vs. McGatha, 10 a.m.
Calvert vs. Rollins, 10:10 a.m.
FINALS
Sunday, 1 p.m.
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
ANNISTON — One thing Sunday’s Calhoun County Match Play Championship semifinal match between Jeremy McGatha and Randy Lipscomb one change … who’s boss.
Lipscomb, the No. 9 seed and 10th-place finisher in the 2024 Calhoun County Tour points standings, will take on his boss, No. 4 seed (fifth points) at 10 a.m.
No. 3 (4) Chad Calvert will play No. 2 (3) John Rollins in the other semifinal, which starts at 10:10 a.m. at Anniston Municipal Golf Course.
The championship match starts at 1 p.m.
The Calhoun County Match Play Championship seeds the top 16 available players from the County Tour points standings. Absentees from this year’s tournament include second-place finisher Brennan Clay, who is recovering from a work-related injury that impacts his swing.
Clay attended Saturday’s play. The avid Auburn fan kept up with the Tigers’ game at Missouri on his IPad while following McGatha.
Lipscomb made it to Sunday at Match Play for the first time. The one-time winner on County Tour (2019, Silver Lakes) emerged from a bracket that included 2024 points champion and defending Match Play champion Gary Wigington and perennial contender Ty Cole, who finished second in this year’s Alabama Golf Association match Play championship.
“Twig (Wigington) has won this thing probably about 15 times,” Lipscomb said. “I knew I’d probably have to beat him.
“He put me out about four years ago. I think he was 6 under through 15 holes. I played good, but you know.”
Lipscomb beat No. 8 seed (9) Billy Thompson 6&4 in the first round to set up a quarterfinals showdown with Wigington and hit a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation to force extra holes.
Lipscomb and Wigington smoked tee shots off hole No. 1 but ran into trouble after that. Lipscomb parred the extra hole, and Wigington bogeyed.
“It was kind of ugly,”: Lipscomb said. “We both hit great tee shots. We both short-sided ourselves to the left. He chunked two chips. I chunked one and chipped my second one to about 2 inches.”
That set up the semifinal showdown with McGatha, who beat No. 13 (16) Hunter Carr 7&6 and Cole 4 up.
“I’ve got to play my boss,” Lipscomb said. “I don’t know if it’s a good career move to beat him.”
Lipscomb is an industrial engineer for General Dynamics, and McGatha is an industrial engineering manager. They’re both former collegiate golfers, Lipscomb at Gadsden State and McGatha at Jacksonville State.
They’ve played as teammates in two-man events.
“It’s going to be a battle,” McGatha said. “Me and Randy talk about golf at work more than we talk about work. He’s a great employee. I don’t have to worry about him. He handles his stuff.
“Sometimes, I’ll call him and say, ‘Hey, what about this?’ Then we’ll talk about golf, but it’s going to be fun. We’re both competitors. He’s going to want to beat my butt, and I want to beat his butt. That’s golf.”
McGatha said he played “steady” Saturday, finishing with nine birdies and one bogey in 24 total holes over two matches,
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